Black doll head found on officers' car

July 23, 2008 4:06:35 PM PDT

Eyewitness News

HARLEM --

Harlem community leaders say two white police officers drove through the traditionally black neighborhood with the head of a black doll on their car's antenna. State Sen. Bill Perkins calls the incident "another display of racism" by police.

Perkins says he was at a restaurant Tuesday when neighborhood residents noticed the head on the unmarked police car. He says one resident tried to photograph the head but a plainclothes officer threw it in the car's trunk.

The New York Police Department says it's looking for surveillance video that may show someone placing the head on the car's rear radio antenna while the officers were inside a school.

Police say the officers were unaware the head was on the car until a passer-by pointed it out. They say the officers discarded it immediately.